


Mission Objective: Remember.

by TheShriekingOsprey



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game), Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Connor Deserves Happiness, Everyone Has Issues, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, F/M, Fantasy, Gavin Reed Needs a Hug, Gavin Reed Redemption, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Kinda, M/M, Minor Character Death, Or not, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Hank Anderson, So much trauma, Suicidal Thoughts, Swearing, WHUMP FOR EVERYONE, Whump, You can't change my mind, but you don't need to know either to understand this story, chris miller is a sweetie, connor is still a machine, dnd and dbh, he's actually deviant, it's hank okay, probably not, this is your team and you're going to like it, tina is lesbian
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:02:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29851596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheShriekingOsprey/pseuds/TheShriekingOsprey
Summary: Connor woke up in a field. He knew nothing. However, he could figure a few things out.Connor was a warforged. A mixture of magic and tech brought him to life. He was created to serve someone. He had orders to follow. He did not know those orders. He must complete his mission. How could he complete a mission if he doesn't know what it is? Connor can't follow his orders until he knows what they are. To accomplish that...Mission Objective: Remember.He didn't think it would turn into this.Aka, Connor, Hank, Gavin, Tina, and Chris are all characters in a dungeons and dragons campaign. Things want to kill them. But for some reason, they've all got each other's backs. Well, eventually.Disclaimer: you don't need to know anything about D&D or D:BH to understand the story or characters. Please be mindful of the tags. I'll do my best to post trigger warnings where necessary.
Relationships: Connor & Chris Miller (Detroit: Become Human), Connor & Gavin Reed, Hank Anderson & Connor, Tina Chen & Gavin Reed
Comments: 10
Kudos: 9





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> My second chaptered work! If you came here from my first, rest assured, I'm still working on that one. However, I've been working nonstop on this story, and while I doubt many people will read such a strange mix of fandoms, I'm excited to share it with those who will.
> 
> Your comments give me life. Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, (constructive) criticisms, or even just random keyboard smashes. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Connor stared down at the fish. His mission objective hovered in the corner of his vision.  **Remember.**

Watching the colorful fish flop pathetically in a puddle of water and broken glass did not help achieve that goal. Neither did picking it up and putting it in a nearby water bucket, but the fish swam in lazy circles, unaffected by its near death experience, as he walked away.

He did it because it  _ could  _ have helped his mission, he decided. It could have sparked a memory.

**Mission Objective: Remember.**

Connor rolled his shoulders back. He wandered the streets once again, taking in the sights and sounds and smells. It was all so… foreign. Until it wasn’t.

A distant, aborted scream. Familiar.

**Mission Objective: Remember.**


	2. Chapter 1: Assigning Secondary Objective...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor tries to be helpful, Gavin is strangely nice, and Hank is there for reasons.

Connor shot off in the scream’s direction, ignoring startled cries and indignant curses as he vaulted over barrels, crates, and shoved past anyone who stood in his way.

**Mission Objective: Remember.**

He slowed as he approached the assumed origin of the commotion, pushing his way through the crowd gathering on a street corner. They were on the edge of the small, rural town, a dense forest looming on the horizon.

_ That poor kid,  _ someone said.

_ The guards wouldn’t help anyways. _

_ Just another street urchin. _

_ I bet it's just a ploy for money! _

Connor filed away the crowd’s words for later examination, opting to study the scene that had them all so enamored. A dark-skinned human man knelt on the packed dirt, ducking his head in an attempt to make eye contact with a little kid. The kid was eight? Nine, maybe? Human, Connor gathered, with fair skin and a mop of dark hair. He was covered in mud and grime, a leaf tangled in his bangs that he didn’t seem to notice even as it swung back and forth with each of his heaving sobs.

“Excuse me,” Connor said. “Is everything alright?”

No, it wasn’t. He did not know what else to say, however. Whatever he was for, it was clearly not this.

The little boy fell forward as he hiccupped, fingers curling, nails digging into the leather of the man’s chestplate. The man slowly raised a hand, eyes wide as he cupped the back of the kid’s head. Held the kid close. “It will be.”

Connor chose to ignore the wavering uncertainty in his tone. “How can I help?”

“We need a search party. His sister-”

“We’re in.” A third voice. Behind him.

Connor startled at the sudden proximity to a stranger’s words, vision plunged into grayscale stillness. His eyes flitted to the man and the kid, frozen in time. Tear tracks streaked through sweat and dirt. Splinters embedded deep in small fingers. Vulnerable.

The man’s expression was mid-change, his lips frozen and parted in an awkward grimace. His free hand was halfway to the crossbow fastened at his waist. No bolt was loaded. It would take an estimated 3.067 seconds before he could load it, and an additional 1.5~ to aim and fire, relative to the man’s reaction time. Too long.

Shadows stretched out before him, too warped to make out any defining details or weapons. There was a notable height difference between two humanoid figures. Insufficient evidence to assess their threat level.

**Analyzing data…**

**Mission Objective: Remember.**

**Assign secondary objective?**

**> Yes**

**\- No**

**Assigning secondary objective…**

**Primary Objective: Remember.**

**Secondary Objective: Protect the Kid.**

The world exploded into color. Connor whirled around, ready to spring.

Neither person was looking at him. No weapons were drawn.  **_Current chance of violent altercation: 16%._ **

Connor liked those odds. But they weren’t zero. He created two new profiles in a blink filing away any data he could.

The first was a woman. Short, somewhere around five and a quarter feet, with a soft face and sharp eyes. Golden, almond shaped eyes that struggled to retain their severity against warm pink skin. Her hair was a darker shade of pink, pulled back into a tight bun. Pink horns curved back into a gentle white, lashing tail painted with a similar gradient. Crossed arms. Severe expression. Her bulging backpack’s straps dug into her thick leather tunic, but she held no visible weapons.

The second was a man. He looked vaguely elven, ears pointed in a gentle mimicry of stereotypes. And yet his build was shorter, stockier, around five feet and three quarters tall. A hint of stubble traced his jaw that an elf could never grow. His eyes were a resolute stony grey, dark hair combed back away from his face. A face with a broad, scarred nose, and lips twisted in an odd frown. Like the woman beside him he carried no visible weapons- only an air of agitation.

Motivations unknown. Insufficient data for an accurate conclusion.

“So?” the half-elf snapped. He grimaced, making an audible effort to reign his temper in. “What’s the problem?”

The dark-skinned human blinked a few times but quickly picked up from where he had left off. “His sister was taken. A man grabbed her at the edge of the woods.”

“A-and the wolves!” The little kid hiccupped, pulling back enough to look at them through bleary, bloodshot eyes. “He had wolves. He took her with wolves. The wolves-”

The half-elf none too gently shoved past Connor, crouching next to the boy. His voice softened. “Alright. I hear you. What were you two doing all the way out there?”

“Playing,” the kid whispered.

Slowly, they managed to cobble together a cohesive story. They were picking berries and playing hide and seek. The boy- Reaux- hid in a tree while his sister- Cadence- searched. Dirty he said when asked to describe Cadence. Dirty. Thin. Like him. And that was it. Cadence was still seeking when the man came out of the woods. Words were exchanged. Cadence started backing away. Reaux stayed hidden. And then the wolves came, materializing out of the shadows of the forest. Wolves taller than the man himself.

The man dragged Cadence away kicking and screaming.

The kid gasped for air as he recounted those final moments, face buried against the human’s chest. A heavy, cloying weight had Connor's expression twisting in a facsimile of sympathy.

Gavin, as the half-elf had introduced himself, put a hand on Reaux’s back, keeping up a meaningless stream of reassurances. Desperately struggling to coax Reaux back from the edge of hysterics.

And still Connor just stood, watching. He wasn’t  _ for  _ this. The human didn’t seem to be faring any better, keeping up his own platitude of soothing nothings. Empty promises. Connor wanted to remind them that there was no guarantee that the girl was even still alive. Now didn’t seem like the right time to bring it up.

“Tina,” Gavin called. He sighed and pulled away.

The tiefling, previously standing with her arms crossed watching, stepped forward. “Got it.” With murmured words and a subtle gesture, the kid’s breaths instantly evened out. He gave a shuddering sigh, but his grip loosened on the human’s chestplate. Calm.

A charm spell?

“You’re on first watch tonight,” Tina muttered.

“Great,” Gavin said. He stood, turning sharply to stare out at the slowly dispersing crowd. “We find someone to watch him, and then we go fight some fuckin’ wolves.”

“Sounds dangerous,” a new voice said. A grizzled human man, hair long and unkempt. A weary face with deep-set blue eyes, void of urgency, and both a gun and sword strapped at his hip. He stank of booze.

“It’s likely,” Connor said.

“Huh.” The new man shrugged. “Need another hand?”


	3. Chapter 2: Assimilation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin and Tina are irrelevant, Chris and Connor struggle to make small talk, and Hank sucks at giving compliments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reaux is pronounced as "row", as in rowing a boat.

Leaving town was an unnecessarily awkward affair. Gavin forged ahead, immediately leaving everyone behind. Tina didn’t look back as she jogged to catch up, putting a hand on her friend’s shoulder when she did. They became absorbed in their own quiet conversation. The silver-haired human was always looking anywhere but at the others as he lagged behind, a hand on his gun and a sharp look in his eye.

The other human, for better or worse, kept pace with Connor. The human (who was almost half a foot shorter than Connor) stole unsubtle glances up at him. He had an odd air about him. A certain shine to his dark eyes that Connor couldn’t identify.

“Is everything alright?” Connor asked after several minutes of this.

The man visibly started. “Yes, yeah- sorry. I just…” His hand came up in an aborted motion, and he faced the forest again while they walked. “I just realized I never got your name.”

Huh. “My name is Connor.” The sentence ended abruptly, in Connor’s mind. It left a bitter aftertaste.

**Mission Objective: Remember.**

“Chris,” the man responded with an easy smile.

“Hello, Chris.”

Connor was eager to slip back into the simplicity of silence. His hand dipped into his pocket, fingers closing around the cool, smoothness of his coin. 

“Thank you for stepping up,” Chris said. “I don’t know what I’d have done.”

Connor’s gaze flickered to Gavin and Tina- now engrossed in a hushed but animated conversation- then back to the other human. “It made sense to help.”

“Yeah.” Chris sighed. “It’s really hard to hear someone in distress, right?”

“...right.”

The forest grew ever closer. The sun had begun to dip below the looming treeline, shadows stretching, grasping at the fields. The village behind them shrank with every step. 

“So,” Chris said, breaking the quiet again. “What’s with the…?” He tapped his right temple by way of explanation.

Connor’s hand came up, fingers ghosting across his own temple.

“Is it a tattoo? I’ve never seen one change colors like that, but,” he shrugged, “magic’s wild.”

“It’s magic,” Connor confirmed. He had noticed the little glowing patch of red embedded in his temple the first time he saw his reflection. He wasn’t sure of its function, but everything about him had been made with purpose. He was just a machine, metal and wires, stitched together with magic and sent on his way. A sentient machine. But a machine made for a purpose, made to serve. The circle had purpose. He had a purpose. It was to-

**Primary Objective: Remember.**

**_Secondary Objective: Protect the Kid._ **

“Oh- it’s red, now.”

Connor blinked. That wasn’t right. He had already done the second task. The kid was safe back at the village with a kind old woman. Reaux was no longer in need of protection.

“Cadence,” he said aloud.

The words rippled in front of him.

**Primary Objective: Remember.**

**_Secondary Objective: Protect the Kid._ **

“Hm?”

It was Connor’s turn to be startled, yanked out of his thoughts by Chris’s voice. He hastily swiped the objectives out of his vision. “Sorry. I was just thinking. About Cadence.”

Chris nodded slowly, gaze falling back on the edge of the forest. They were almost upon it, now. “Me too.” Quietly, he added, “Do you think she’s still… alive?”

“Something tells me she is,” Connor said.

**_Mission Objective: Protect the Kid._ **

“We just need to find her.”

-

Connor wondered why he understood what a forest was. Why he knew about trees and brambles and woodland creatures. What did it say about his purpose, if anything at all, that he could instantly recognize unnatural from natural in the tangle of green and brown?

Mud leeched the warmth from his legs as he knelt, leaves squelching with his weight as he drove them deeper into the muck. Gingerly, he reached out, lifting the child-sized shoe slowly so as not to disturb its print.

The mud coating the top of the shoe had yet to dry, despite not being under the canopy. The moisture collected easily in a small dip such as these, but the shoe would’ve been in direct sunlight for several hours. Unless it was left recently, it would’ve been dry.

Connor put the shoe back as he had found it, leaving the print undisturbed. Slowly, he stood, glancing around at the foliage and up into the trees.

He blinked into a grayscale world.

Several spots had been flagged already without conscious thought. He focused on the first yellow blip. It hovered over a tree branch ten feet in the air, just a few paces into the woods. His vision zoomed in and the distorted image fell into focus like a camera lens. The yellow flag overlapped with a curious shape. A short, ragged strip of fabric snagged on a protruding twig. A bit further out on the branch was a cluster of vague fingerprints left behind in sap.

The flag melted into an unobtrusive blue for future viewing as he turned to the next marker. Just past some thorny brambles was a jagged section of undergrowth. A strip was trampled, thinned out where something had forced its way through, shoving taller plants to the sides. The plants were slowly but surely inching back into place, but it would take some time before they’d cover the trail again. The first trail.

There was a second a little to the first one’s left. A third. And a fourth to its right.

Connor flagged each with a blue marker. With a blink, time snapped back into place. His senses returned in a tidal wave of color and sound. The forest jumped to life around him, crickets chirping in the soft light of dusk, a light breeze rippling through the upper branches and leaves.

“Found something?”

Connor turned.

The human raised an eyebrow, gesturing towards Connor with his gun. “You seem awfully intrigued by  _ somethin’.” _

Breathing served no emotional purpose. Connor took a deep breath anyways, eyes flicking back to the shoe. The centerpiece. “I know what happened.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

The man’s tone gave Connor pause. A challenge.

Connor was not made for wandering aimlessly. He was not made for talking to crying children. He was certainly not made for small talk with tentative acquaintances. But _ this? _

“This shoe is the approximate size expected of an adolescent human girl of Cadence’s age,” he started coolly. “The fabric and fingerprints preserved in the sap in  _ that  _ tree indicate Reaux’s position- crouched, gripping the branch to maintain balance. He had the perfect vantage point to observe his sister's kidnapping while still being adequately obscured by more dense clusters of leaves.”

“Right,” the human said. “Hate to break it to you, kid, but that doesn’t tell us where she went.”

Connor ignored him, forging on. “Cadence had to have been lifted straight up for her to have left the mud undisturbed while still leaving a shoe behind. It could also indicate the execution of the event. There likely would have been a struggle if she had seen her attacker beforehand.” His eyes jumped between each point of evidence, struggling to string the influx of information into a concise, coherent explanation. “The underbrush has four distinct trails, all heading northwest.”

“Hm. Go on.”

“The evidence lines up with Reaux’s account of the event. They were playing Hide & Seek. He hid in the tree while Cadence searched for him. Her attacker grabbed her, not realizing her brother was still there- or, perhaps, not knowing he was there in the first place. As all four paths travel in the same direction, it’s safe to assume that the attacker had accomplices, though there’s insufficient evidence as to the species or races of anyone or any creature involved.”

“So what you’re saying is that there could actually be wolves involved?” The man huffed out a breath in an approximation of a laugh. “Huh. Maybe you aren’t  _ completely  _ useless, kid.”

Connor smothered the urge to grin despite the callous words, lips twitching at the sudden rush of pride and adrenaline.

_ Let the hunt begin... _


	4. Chapter 3: Shadows and Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hank and Connor talk, twice, Tina is used to Gavin, and Chris is the only one with a sense of self-preservation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw: violence & blood

The forest was dense but the trails were fresh, allowing the group to push on with relative ease. The moon peeked through the canopy in splotches, darkness forcing the group to keep close. Gavin and Tina led confidently.

Chris, Connor noticed, did not seem to struggle in the dark at all, despite appearing human. Curious. He filed that information away for later.

The other human, however, remained stubbornly far behind. Each misstep had him cursing, Connor cringing. He was loud. Loud enough to attract attention and startled nocturnal creatures into scattering about.

Connor fell back. “Perhaps you should stay closer to the group.”

“I’m perfectly fine back here, thank you very much,” he said. “I don’t need you to hold my hand.”

“Staying close will reduce the amount of noise made by over 75%, increasing our chances of success.”

The human grumbled, reluctantly speeding up a fraction.

“Thank you for your cooperation.” Connor hesitated before adding, “What should I call you?”

The human glanced over. “Hank.”

“Nice to meet you Hank. I’m Connor.”

“I know.”

-

Tina’s arm shot out, catching Gavin in the chest. She raised a finger to her lips as the group came to a halt, inclining her head towards a warm glow just barely filtering through the trees.  _ Campfire,  _ she mouthed.

Hank had his gun in his hands as he pushed to the front of the group. He and Tina made eye contact, and then she fell back, allowing Hank to lead.

Agonizingly slowly, the group crept forward. Every noise made was met with half a minute of stillness. Listening. Waiting for a sign they’d been heard. When none came they’d move again, until eventually they were close enough to peer through the trees.

The clearing was small, a fire set up in a ring of stones at the far side. Through the darkness Connor could make out two vague shapes- a humanoid, upright, sitting with his back towards their group, and a small mass of deeper shadows huddled on the ground. No other creatures. No other shapes.

Connor flinched when a hand found his arm, stilling immediately when he realized it was just Chris.

Chris looked up at him, eyes wide with anxiety.  _ What now? _

Hank answered the unspoken question, voice lowered to a gruff whisper. “We need a plan. Who-” he started.

At the same time, Tina hissed, “Gavin, _ no!” _

Gavin surged forward, wisps of shadow coalescing around him in a facsimile of armor. Darkness gathered between his hands, and then it was streaking across the clearing with an audible impact as it slammed into the silhouette’s back.

Hank cursed loudly as he raised his gun, stumbling in search of a clean shot as Tina lunged for her friend. Her hand glowed as she barely managed to brush her fingertips against Gavin’s shoulder, but it was enough. The pink light pulsed and disappeared into the darkness.

Connor’s heart thrummed. Time slowed, but the world was not grey. Not this time.

He flew past Hank and Tina and Gavin, breaking Chris’s weak grip. The figure fumbled with a weapon, raising its loaded crossbow with shaky hands. Connor watched the bolt cut through the air, streaking towards him.

His hand came up. The bolt was in slow motion. Connor was not. His fist closed around the brittle wood, twisted, and threw the bolt right back at its source.

The person’s cry cut off with a sickening, wet  _ thunk  _ as the bolt sunk into their throat. They collapsed in a bloody heap.

This.  _ This  _ was what he was for.

More shadows twisted and warped. Surrounded him. Solidified into shapes. Creatures. Easily eight feet tall, wolves larger than horses with spikes crowning the tops of their spines and burning red eyes. They snarled in tandem, hackles raised, stalking forward on paws the size of dinner plates, tails the size of a grown man’s arm.

**_Mission Objective: Protect the Kid._ **

Connor’s gaze snapped to the huddled form still beside the fire in time to see Gavin appear out of a cloud of mist, kneeling at the child’s side. Good.

One of the wolves noticed, too. It lunged.

Connor’s warning choked off into an unintelligible mess as the other two wolves closed in. Bone-shattering jaws, around his arm, his side. Both wolves snarled and pulled, tearing teeth through metal. Blue spilled to the ground around him as he gasped, ripping himself free.

Too many things at once. Unfamiliar magic wrapped around him, Chris’s voice shouting his name. Gunfire rang, showering Connor in a spray of crimson. One of the wolves snarled and turned, but the other was bearing down on him still as he struggled to steady himself, to slow time again.

He swung out without thought, stumbling as his fist met only air. The second and third blows met a wall of fur and muscle, and he pulled back for a kick and- his back met the ground, rib-crushing weight pressing into him, claws and teeth and his name and-

Nothing.

-

_ “Connor?” _

Chris’s voice sounded far away as he stirred, creeping back to awareness. He missed the numbness of before already as his battered body made itself known with a dull, pulsing ache.

“Connor!” Chris repeated.

There were hands on his shoulders. Connor cracked his eyes open, Chris’s face swimming into view on a backdrop of twinkling stars.

The hands withdrew instantly as Chris sat back. “Oh thank the gods. I saw you- I wasn’t sure if it-” He took a shuddering breath. “It worked.”

“What worked?” Connor asked. Footsteps approached quickly and he struggled to sit himself up, glancing down to take in the damage. It was surprisingly… minimal. Blue trickled sluggishly from some puncture wounds- oversized dog bites, but nowhere near as devastating as he’d expected.

“Healing you. I didn’t know if it would work, since you...” Chris floundered, at a loss for words.

Connor furrowed his eyebrows. “You healed me?”

“...yeah?”

“Why?”

“What-” Chris balked. “What do you  _ mean  _ why?”

“No,” Hank’s voice cut in. “I want to hear this too. Or, even better,” he snarled, “I’d like to know what the  _ fuck  _ one of  _ you  _ is doing here.”

Connor was staring down the barrel of a gun.

“Woah, hold on-”

“Save it, Chris. Give me one good reason I shouldn’t-”

“There’s plenty of time to be racist later!” Gavin snapped. “In case you haven’t noticed, _ some of us  _ are trying to get a kid back home.”

**_Mission Objective: Protect the Kid._ **

The gun dropped and Connor was on his feet, wavering for only a moment as he glanced over at the body in the grass. A man, human, mid to late thirties with sun-reddened skin, a bolt protruding from his Adam’s apple, and a tunic soaked in his own blood. Three giant, spined wolf corpses laid in their own rapidly spreading patches of crimson. Likely a traumatizing sight for a child…

...hence why Tina was sitting on the ground with her arms around the young girl, allowing her to bury her face in Tina’s shirt. The young girl that was definitely not human. Not like Reaux. She could not be his sister. She could not be Cadence.

Gavin stood with his arms crossed, jaw set, and eyes cool as glaciers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact for those who play Dungeons and Dragons, Gavin rolled a natural 20 on his first attack for a total of 27. He ended up doing 18 points of damage. He then managed to roll a natural 1 on a strength saving throw, and despite taking 24 points of damage, all but 6 of those points were negated.
> 
> He had an absolute rollercoaster of a time, even though 90% of it sadly couldn't be seen from Connor's point of view.


	5. Chapter 4: Puzzle Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris struggles to diffuse the tension, Connor is disgusting no matter the universe, and Gavin is just observing until he isn't.
> 
> Tw: semi-graphic description of a corpse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to the lovely people who have left kudos and commented. You all have motivated me to write way more quickly than I had anticipated!

Tears clung to tawny furry cheeks, dripping from golden feline eyes. Her tail curled around herself as the young girl hugged her knees, chest heaving with shuddering breaths. Her whiskers quivered.

A tabaxi. A little lion tabaxi, far, _far_ from any tribe.

**Primary Objective: Remember.**

**_Secondary Objective: Protect the Kid._ **

The objectives loomed in Connor’s vision, pressing him forward, the weight of too many prying eyes pulling him back. Gavin, Hank, Chris, dissecting him. Being watched was not something he was made for, it seemed.

Apparently, Tina was having similar thoughts on the little girl’s behalf as she made a subtle shooing motion at the group. “Why don’t we give her a little bit of space?”

“You heard the woman!” Gavin snapped. “Back up.”

“Gavin,” Tina said calmly. “Take a walk.”

Gavin whirled, gaping at his friend, but Connor’s attention was pulled away as a hand found his back between his shoulder blades. His proximity sensors warned him of Hank’s presence as the human leaned in.

A low whisper. “That kid doesn’t see anymore death today, but so help me…” Hank left the threat hanging, shoved him forward, and stalked off.

Connor stumbled a step, rolled his shoulders back, and stared after the grizzled human. Perhaps if Connor himself were human, he’d feel nervous. Frustrated. Angry, even. Maybe Connor didn’t need to be human to feel those things. But if he felt them at all, they were drowned out by realization. Hank had a personal vendetta against… whatever Connor was.

Hank knew what he was.

**Mission Objective: Remember.**

Connor didn’t catch what Chris said as the other human passed, too busy watching Hank’s retreating form.

-

“How did he get the wolves?”

Gavin snorted, kicking at one of the wolves’ paws. “I thought you were supposed to be the detective.”

“Not a detective,” Connor corrected idly.

The moon crawled steadily higher as the guys fanned out, leaving Tina to watch the kid alone. Hank had stormed off immediately, followed by a sheepish looking Chris who announced that they’d go check the woods for danger.

Gavin, however, had taken to pacing around making smart remarks while Connor tried to make sense of the situation.

“And why wolves?” Connor wondered aloud. “The girl wouldn’t have been able to overpower him even without them. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Tch. Neither does bleeding blue.” Pause. “Hey, what’s up with that anyway? The fuck even are you?”

Connor ignored Gavin, kneeling to inspect the man he had killed. Most of the blood was dry and crusted to ghastly pale skin, save for the thick crimson still gurgling sluggishly around the bolt…

He swiped his fingers through the tacky substance and brought it to his lips.

“Holy _fuck-”_

_Analyzing sample…_

_Match found. Fresh humanoid blood._

_Identity unknown._

Connor stared down at his bloodied fingertips, wiped them on his pants, then glanced up past Gavin’s horrified expression to hone in on one of the wolves.

“Oh- what the fuck. Don’t-”

He knelt by one of the wolves and dipped his fingers into a bullet hole.

_Analyzing sample…_

_Match found. Fresh dire wolf blood._

“-I think I’m gonna be sick.”

Connor straightened, contemplating. This newly discovered function could prove to be useful… if only to help him figure out what he was for or who he belonged to.

He drifted between the dire wolf corpses, taking a sample of each wolf’s blood before searching them for any possible clues. Finding nothing but fur, blood, and bone, he returned to his original task- searching the human’s corpse for clues.

Connor tuned out Gavin’s voice as he searched, rooting through pockets and pouches, setting aside anything of note. The man only had a handful of copper coins, a silver pocket watch, half a dozen crossbow bolts, a charred torch, a letter with a broken seal, and a day’s worth of rations. He grabbed the watch first, holding it up and admiring how the fine diamond detailing glimmered in the moonlight. He clicked it open and inspected the clock face, checking the time. Nothing out of the ordinary.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to put that in your mouth too,” Gavin said.

Connor considered the idea for a moment. “I’m unsure as to how that would benefit the situation.”

“But lickin’ up corpse juice did?”

“The only bodily fluid I analyzed was blood-”

“And it helped us how?”

“It-” Connor frowned, setting the watch back down. “It allowed me to identify the creatures.”

“So did my eyes. They’re _giant wolves.”_

“Giant wolves are not a species. These are dire wolves-”

Gavin smirked. “Looks like giant wolves to me, prick.” When Connor met him with only silence, he wandered over, glancing down at the collection of items. Connor watched him pick up the letter out of the corner of his eye as he rolled one of the copper pieces experimentally over his knuckles.

“What’s it say?” Connor asked as Gavin unfolded the paper, putting the coin down in favor of looking up at the half-elf.

Gavin’s haughty expression was frozen in place. Slowly, it dropped, expression freezing over as his eyes scanned back and forth, mouthing words silently to himself.

“What does it say?” Connor repeated, more curiously now.

Gavin spun sharply on his heel, refolding the letter and holding it close to his chest. He clenched his jaw and took a breath before calling out. “Tina!”

Two sets of golden eyes trained on Gavin from the mass of shadows that made up Tina and the little girl.

“We’ve got a lead.”


	6. Chapter 5: Leads to Nowhere

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hank and Chris are irrelevant. Tina and Gavin have a talk. Connor doesn't understand what privacy means.

_“We’ve got a lead.”_

_“We’ve got a lead.”_

_“We’ve got a lead.”_

The words rang in his ears, spoken with such an urgent certainty that Connor… he wasn’t sure. He was something. Familiar words. Words he could latch onto, a _lead._

Hank. Those words. _Leads._

The word didn’t even feel real anymore.

Tina ushered the little girl to her feet, tail lashing, eyes flashing with a dangerous restraint. The little girl swayed on her feet, peeking warily up at them through half-lidded eyes. Tina didn’t seem to notice anymore. 

“What is it?” she said. _“Gavin._ What-”

“Gods, give me a second to respond, T,” Gavin growled. His hands shook. “It may not-”

Tina’s glare cut him off. “It’s the first we’ve got. Just tell me what the fu-” She cringed, curling her tail around the little girl. “Just tell me what it is.”

Gavin’s eyes cut to Connor. Tina’s followed.

“Perhaps we should set up camp,” Connor suggested. He didn’t know why he said it. He wanted to know, too. “It would be unwise to travel further tonight. There could be other dangers in these woods.”

Tina and Gavin exchanged a heavy look, and then Tina was kneeling, carefully pulling the girl away. “Let’s get you to bed, sweetheart. We can talk after you’ve got some sleep, if you’re ready.” Her smile was strained but soft as she met the girl’s eyes. She turned her head slightly towards the guys, not looking. “Connor, I’ll set her up with a sleeping bag. Could you-”

“Chris can watch her,” Gavin said.

Another twinge. Of something. Of memory. Of _feeling_.

He tilted his head, eyes cutting to Gavin. “I’m perfectly capable of watching her.”

“Until you tell us,” Gavin leaned in close, lowering his voice, “what the _fuck_ you are, you don’t get to even _look_ at her. Innocent people don’t masquerade as humans. They don’t kill the way you did. They don’t bleed blue.” With every point he made, he jabbed his finger at Connor’s chest.

Connor didn’t move, letting Gavin get up in his face as Tina ushered the little girl away, back towards the dying fire. The feeling boiled under the surface, swelling. Anger. He opened his mouth, a retort on the tip of his tongue-

“You’re right,” he said instead. Anger simmered, but receded. He’d deal with it later. Now, he had to hide it. He had to protect the kid. He couldn’t…

**_Mission Objective:_ ** **_P̵̣̊r̴̨̄͜͝o̸͔t̷̫̲̀͠ě̷̗c̶̗̅ṫ̵̺͎͊_ ** **_the Kid._ **

His features smoothed out, an empty mask of calm. “Perhaps it’s for the best that someone else watches her. Chris does seem like the optimal choice, while you and Tina converse. He’s a lot more… tactful, then some of us.”

Gavin’s eyebrows furrowed, steel eyes searching Connor’s face as he took a measured step back.

Connor watched passively as the man hesitated, turned, and walked away.

-

Connor didn’t sleep. While he did discover quite quickly that his systems grew sluggish without the occasional rest, it was never sleep as most creatures knew it. Instead, he went into a stasis of sorts, and in a way, even stasis was a bit extreme of a word for it. He didn’t lose much of his processing power or awareness, he just... didn’t move.

Informing the others was another thing he didn’t do.

Between the group, there were only three bedrolls. Tina offered hers to the little girl, leaving Chris to use his own and Hank to use Gavin’s, despite the half-elf’s protests. Tina hadn’t been as quiet as she had thought when she told Gavin it was either Connor or Hank that got to use it while they took watch, non negotiable.

That left Connor “sleeping” on the ground, his back to the fire and consequently the rest of the group. He listened as each of the other’s breathing evened out. It was well after Hank began to snore that Connor keeping quiet paid off.

“They’re all asleep,” Tina said softly.

There was shifting, a heavy breath forced out through clenched teeth. Gavin’s low tone carried over the crackling flames. “It’s not much.”

“But something. The first something we’ve got.”

More shifting. The gentle sounds of paper being handled, unfolded.

One set of breathing stopped.

“Gav, you don’t think...”

“It’s a lead.”

“It doesn’t— where do we even start? This doesn’t give us anything!” Tina hissed.

“You just said it yourself. It’s the first something we’ve got.”

Connor counted the seconds as the silence drew out, contemplating the idea of rolling over to face them. Would they suspect anything? Would they notice if he opened his eyes?

It was several minutes before Tina spoke. “Hey,” she started, voice smaller than before. “Are you going to be okay?”

Gavin huffed out a quiet laugh. “I should be asking you that.”

“Yeah you should, asshole,” Tina said. Connor could hear the smirk in her voice. She quickly sobered. “Really, though. You know I give zero shits about any of the whys or the whats- you can keep your tragic backstory demon power stuff secret.”

Gavin snorted.

“But... look. I’m not dumb. I know you’re not helping me out of the kindness of your heart.” A shaky inhale, followed by an even shakier exhale. “Not for me, at least. But whatever you see in me is clearly personal, and it’s- don’t give me that look- it’s fucking you up.”

“I’m fine,” Gavin said. Connor didn’t think it took a genius to realize that was a lie, just based off of the context alone.

“Riiiight.”

“I’m. Fine.”

“Then stop trying to strangle the letter and go to sleep.” Tina continued over his grumbling, “I’ve got the rest of watch. Just don’t sleep too close to the others, and I’ve got it covered.”

There was movement, grumbling and cursing as Gavin realized he had to sleep on the bare ground, and then it was just the sound of the others’ breathing, the crackling fire, and the gentle whispers of the forest around them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Connor is very much... not there. He doesn't have much in terms of opinions or even thoughts at the moment, but I promise he won't be such a meh narrator forever lol. He's almost like Machine!Connor, right now, just with less of a need for explicit orders, so that's how I'm treating his POV.
> 
> On an unrelated note, I hope your day is going well, and if it isn't that tomorrow is better. In case no one told you today, you are enough. Your best may not always look like someone else's best, and that's okay. You deserve all of the good things you have anyways.
> 
> Good morning or good night, and I hope you'll stick around for the next chapter!  
> Kudos and comments are always appreciated!


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